Sorry, but little loud Scottish dude scrambling around whacking people makes me laugh. It's true marketing genius when my old man does not hit the mute button during a commercial.“ That’s thinking with yer dip stick….Jimmie” has me thinking about a teaching tool passed along from a more knowledgeable master once. "Tactile" I think he called it, using physical contact as a teaching aid. Touching adds to the moment’s sensation and can make it more meaningful in certain instances. I learned this in a casting demonstration where the instructor would touch the area of concern, whether it be a wrist, forearm, finger or grip. The sensation of touch made the moment more significant and people learned quicker. My elbow once touched someone and it became one hell of a moment and everyone learned something, but I’m not supposed to talk about that. When you start to break a bird dog with electricity you begin to get in that dogs head. You push a button and he starts to understand that his master can be an influence even at great distances, he begins to listen. I am NOT saying i have secretly wished to put a shock collar on everyone who has sat in my boat, but that would make me laugh like i do at little Scotts and his dip stick. By adding the sensation, or pain in a dogs case, the learning process has a definite down side if he does not progress. A wet handshake after a great fish will always be part of the moment you may remember. A firm hand on your shoulder during a fast water wade say's i'm here with you. A partial hug from another man clearly explains you have been to battle together. A 4 shot night and an open hand grab on some biker chicks back bumper will probably lead to a lesson of some sort. So wouldnt a good whack with a 4’ piece of graphite just crystallize that special moment when you forget to mend for the 200th time? I think so. One guy I know has a naughty seat in his craft, but an old rod tip trumps that. A small thoughtful handle of duck tape on an old buggy whip tip and you have got yer self a perfect attention getter. At the very least you have your buddy acting like a wet bird dog fully expecting some voltage.
Seriously, making people aware of the tip of their fly rod has helped “some” peeps go to another level. Where is your tip pointing? How high is your tip? Can you move your tip quickly in a straight line to an abrupt stop? Can you feel your tip move as the rod loads? Where does your tip stop during the plane of the stroke? Lots of tip shit there huh? It’s often hard to control something consistently that far from your hand, but you have to in order to operate a fly rod. Raising your tip off the water can happen quietly with just your wrist or like some crazy Yoga move, it’s based on the situation. To much Yoga on a move that should have been just wrist leads to less fishing and more casting. Hand anyone a rod and ask them where all the money is and they will tell you the handle, it makes sense, it's usually surrounded by bling. Nice cork, titanium, gold up locking hoopty with sweet paint, obvious and common choice. Most people are not privy to the tip flex coefficient taper regulation flow chart , nor should they be, so I’ll tell you. The brains of the operation are about 9’ away from that bling. The more you think with your rod tip…..Jimmie, the more this whole game will make sense. Marketing schemes only last so long so I better whack some one soon, otherwise I may have to explain further, I did that for a year with the elbow thing.
A quick note on Jimmies: This is all much funnier to anyone who knows Fieldsy. For at least 2 hilarious years , long before this Valvoline thing, he called everyone he didn’t know…..Jimmie. One of the greatest men I ever knew… Mr Simmons i have missed you since i last saw you. My favorite person in the world to hunt with(top 5 anyways) Jimmie T, I miss your radio jabber. Kirk was an awesome Jimmie. Morrison and Hendrix should be mentioned. Number 12 in your program #1 in your heart.....Jim Kelly. And everyone know's, Jimmies make a good frozen custard better.
